Food production can be a problem for many people who have little or no access to land.

There are many who live in conditions where even a balcony is a precious space.

I have spoken before about the ways in which access to growing space can be achieved, through allotments, community gardens and the like, but here is something which may prove to be an inspiration, a new way of looking at food, both growing it and eating!

As an aspiring Vegan, (sometimes I miss the mark!) and dedicated grower and lover of all life, I have recently been converted to “Micro Greens.”

The concept is extraordinarily simple!

Seeds such as lettuce, peas, beets, etc., aresown and grown for about two weeks or less, before being harvested and added to dishes.

These Micro-Greens, it is said, contain up to 40% more nutrients than older, traditionally grown and harvested vegetables.

I can believe it!

Yesterday evening, I had a dish of cooked brown rice, mixed with Micro Greens, seasoned and drenched with the juice of half a fresh lime and this morning I feel a surge of energy!

Micro Greens can be grown on a window ledge, balcony, hanging basket…anywhere they can get a decent dose of light!

Growing Organic is easy to manage in small areas too!

Little or no problem with slugs and availability all the year around!

For me, the days of packaged salad of any kind are over and the tiresome task of cooking greens are almost over…adding raw makes more sense in every aspect of preparing and eating food!

All you need is a tray, or pot of compost, seeds and water!

So, there you have it…a new way of living…simple, easy and kind to Mother Earth!

And the fun part? Now you can enjoy seeing some of your vegetables run to seed, like this Mizuna in the Potager Bed!

Here are just some of the seeds you can grow Micro Salads from…

Arugula

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Kale

Mustard greens

Radish

Red cabbage

Turnips

Watercress

Basil

Chervil

Chives

Coriander

Fennel

Lemon Balm

Mizuna

Rocket

Sage

Chard

and many more…

(Both the Light Catcher and the Bird Box were gifts, made by Nick O’Neill…aren’t they lovely?)

Inspirational to this not-really-a-gardener who just discovered your blog only recently. It’s breakfast time here in Southern California and I am hungry for a fresh green salad of micro greens. I love the idea of growing my own salad greens . . . it doesn’t seem to be too difficult. Sara

Very inspiring, I can’t wait to gather those containers and start! I have been looking further into what plants are edible and was recently given a book called “Food from your Forest garden” by Martin Crawford and Caroline Aitken. One of the edibles was Sedum. I crept out late last night to pick off a leaf, and gingerly cut a bit off and I was surprised that it was quite nice, as so often I try plants that are edible but not very nice. The leaves are young at the moment and would look very attractive in a salad.

Here’s a thought, Colette. We’ve been eating about 95% organic for almost 30 years, believe it or not. People complain that organic food is expensive (and it can be sometimes, I admit) but the thing is, thinking ‘organically’, as you know, almost invariably leads to veganism; it seems to me a perfectly natural and logical path to take. So…

So…using methods such as your micro salads along with the more common sprouting, you can eat mega-healthily and for little money. Thus eating organic becomes not a matter of cost, more of principle. It becomes easier to buy, let’s say, a bag of your favourite top quality (and no doubt expensive) organic rice when the rest of your ingredients in the meal are ‘free’ or at least minimal cost.

We have sprouts (growing in sprouting trays) on the window ledge every single day. There’s a huge bunch of alfalfa sprouts there at the moment. Mustard seed, radish, sunflower seed, whole lentils, broccoli (and other brassica) seeds, grains, cress, mung bean, chick pea and so on are just as easy and delicious. It’s another way to get your nutrition without chemicals or ‘waste’ and again, extremely cheap, tasty and versatile. Chick peas sprouted are a favourite of mine (raw hummus, yum) but all sprouts are easy to digest, as the phytic acid is neutralised and aflatoxins are inactivated.